{"id":236494,"date":"2017-04-10T11:59:19","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T18:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moneyboss.com\/?p=1660"},"modified":"2023-09-18T12:19:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T18:19:26","slug":"walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/walking\/","title":{"rendered":"Walkability score: The joys of a walkable neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the weekend, Kim and I began our hunt for a new home. We spent several hours combing local listings on Zillow and Redfin. We flagged the homes that looked interesting to us. Because I’m a total nerd, I compiled a spreadsheet of our absolute faves, listing important stats like price, home size, lot size, and — perhaps most important of all — walk score<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Househunting<\/p>\n

In the olden days, I picked my homes based on emotion. When my ex-wife and I bought our old farmhouse in 2004, that decision was rushed and irrational. I liked the idea<\/em> of the place. I liked the large yard (two-thirds of an acre close in to Portland), the hundred-year-old house, and the cute hobbit-hole window in the living room. I didn’t consider the massive amount of lawnmowing and yardwork. And I didn’t pay attention to the fact that I’d have to drive almost anywhere I wanted to go.<\/p>\n

<\/span>A Driver’s Life<\/span><\/h2>\n

When Kris and I moved into that drafty old house, we did a lot of driving. At the time, I was still working for the family box factory. Every morning, I spent half an hour driving twenty miles to work. Every evening, I did the reverse commute. We drove to buy groceries. We drove to visit friends. We drove to go out to dinner. I did<\/em> go for walks through the neighborhood, but those were leisurely strolls without any particular purpose.<\/p>\n

After I chose to become a money boss, I paid closer attention to my transportation costs. I looked for ways to drive less and walk more. At the time, I found that 90% of my driving was to the following locations:<\/p>\n